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XCOM:EU is kicking my ass, all the sudden. I just played my second terror mission, and lost 2 majors in the process. I don't think I'm approaching those situations correctly, but I'm not sure what I can do differently. Any advice would be welcome.

Well, my advice is to level up two snipers with squadsight ASAP. If you can't do it right now, just don't rush, advance slowly. Most basic thing when advancing( I'm sure you know it but just to be sure) is move the first guy ahead and then never move anyone else further. Oh, and ignore civilians, rushing to save them is too dangerous.

I just played a DoW2R 1v1 match against some Chaos guy and won for a change. In a very Orkish manner I lost far more units.

XCOM:EU is kicking my ass, all the sudden. I just played my second terror mission, and lost 2 majors in the process. I don't think I'm approaching those situations correctly, but I'm not sure what I can do differently. Any advice would be welcome.

Also, if I'm building a hyperwave relay right now, where does that place me in terms of % game complete?

What enemies did you face on the terror mission? I had a fair number under my belt before I built the hyperwave relay, probably because I delayed the prerequisite mission. Do you have just about everything researched/foundry'd at this point?

I think terror missions probably want 1 sniper, 1 heavy, 1 support, and 3 assaults, or 2 supports and 2 assaults, or 2 supports, 3 assaults, and no heavy (depending on whether you're likely to encounter robotic enemies, and whether any of your supports have suppressive fire). I find heavies to be the most useless on these missions, because they're usually either dashing to catch up, or too far away to get hits.

Moving slow units up-field quickly while faster units cover is a good idea, but don't waste all your run-and-guns at once. Get a couple units in the air (1 sniper, 1 assault) if you can. If you have a particular type of armor beneficial for assaults (you'll know what I mean if you've researched it), use it to reach civilians without risking your soldiers. If you don't have it, use smoke to cover risky placements or civilians in peril. Don't knowingly risk soldiers for civilians unless you've lost a lot already. However, when the enemies are thinned out, it can often pay off to run-and-gun your way into the fog if you suspect a civilian is in danger.

I'm back on Borderlands 2. Back with a vengeance in fact, I've started two new characters, I have a couple more I'm going to get through and then I'm going to make some more bank characters. I'm also grinding some Badass challenges, most notably the Sky Rockets In Flight... one, I've noticed the Borderlands wiki doesn't list the requirement for level 5 of that challenge so I assume it's because no one has yet completed level 4 (1000 kills with rocket launchers at long range), at least no one who wants to edit the wiki to add the info. I haven't even hit 200 yet so I've got a way to go... And that's with Zer0 as well, the guy who has no skills that would help complete that challenge, at least Salvador can regenerate ammo, Gaige has skills that boost explosive damage and Axton has some that help with rocket launchers. I'm hoping a Mongol will help cancel out any accuracy issues.

I've also picked up Minecraft again for the first time since 1.0 thanks to the ComputerCraft tutorials here at RPS, looking forward to getting into it again.

Kings Bounty: Crossworlds, 10 hours in on the Armored Princess campaign (with a lvl 14 paladin). Man, this game is addictive! But I agree with the WIT's; it's a lot less funny/bizarre compared to Kings Bounty: The Legend. But the constant drive (grind? :) to improve is very rewarding. The only thing I really don't like is the cuddly, cute pet dragon. I want my chest of rage back! (and in the game)

XCOM:EU is kicking my ass, all the sudden. I just played my second terror mission, and lost 2 majors in the process. I don't think I'm approaching those situations correctly, but I'm not sure what I can do differently. Any advice would be welcome.

Also, if I'm building a hyperwave relay right now, where does that place me in terms of % game complete?

Stay put, establish a fire platform, send out an assault unit to draw enemies out and then pull them back into the crossfire you've set up. I've never had any problem on Classic or below using this tactic (not tried the level(S?) above Classic).

So Long as you're levelling up tech appropriately and your battlefield positioning is sound you should have enough to whittle the Chrysalids down before they get close enough to hurt you. You'll probably take some damage from the other goombahs that inhabit the level but so long as you've got a support unit and decent armour that shouldn't be an issue.

I've still not seen an attack animation from a Chrysalid becuase they never got close enough to do so using this tactic. Some civilians might die but you know...world is at stake so I don't care if I only save 18 rather than 20 of them.

Unrelated to the above, I ended up playing FIFA 12 for about 5 hours last night and I'm not even sure if I enjoyed it, fucking football games

Yeah Raiden was almost an anime character before but at least he had to operate like Snake. Flying around dicing everything up like Gray Fox on meth. i mean, whatever id enjoy it (seems like ninja gaiden from what I've seen) but i don't feel like im missing much by not playing.

It also seems weaker then kojimas games have been. I think there's a lot more to kojimas humor than just porn mags. I get that he's kind of pretentious and crazy but I love the mgs world.

Well, the point of this is that you finally ARE The Cyborg Ninja. ANd people have been wanting that since MGS1.

And from the limited demo, it definitely FEELS like kojima's world. People are randomly spouting detailed facts about how PMCs have evolved (especially in the wake of MGS4), you have over the top characters who all exist to consider philisophical crap ("What does an AI know about freedom?". Sidenote, I bet this isn't Raiden and is actually an AI modeled on Raiden).

Basically, it is Kojima's story and characters with Platinum's style. And I actually really like the approach from what little I have played. Snake rarely ever felt like "a badass" as it were. He instead felt like a nice stale beer spec op as it were. He had his moments of awesome, but it was very much about being outnumbered and knowing you don't stand a chance in a straight fight.
Rising Raiden is more about having to hold yourself back from trying to engage EVERYONE because you can't win (but you'll take a bunch of them down with you :p). Which actually seems to fit the character right now as Raiden seems hellbent on revenge and bloodthirsty as crap.

Steam: Gundato
PSN: Gundato
If you want me on either service, I suggest PMing me here first to let me know who you are.

What enemies did you face on the terror mission? I had a fair number under my belt before I built the hyperwave relay, probably because I delayed the prerequisite mission. Do you have just about everything researched/foundry'd at this point?

Chrysalids , sooooooo many Chrysalids .

And no, I don't remotely have everything researched, hell I only just built a foundry. Am I supposed to be grinding way more than I am between plot missions? I'd actually thought I was delaying more than the game intended...

Thanks for the advice.

@sonson

You're clearly playing at a level so far above where I am as to barely be playing the same game. 18/20 civilians saved? Never seen a Chrysalid attack animation? I take it you're a veteran of the original game.

The main thing I take away from both your and internetonsetadd's advice, however, is that there's something deeply wrong with my strategic management and tech path. This is not exactly a surprise, since this being my first play through I don't know what's important to get, and don't have a clear sense of how I should be pacing plot progression vs. "grinding" for resources/tech/etc.

And no, I don't remotely have everything researched, hell I only just built a foundry. Am I supposed to be grinding way more than I am between plot missions? I'd actually thought I was delaying more than the game intended...

The only real time limit the game has is the balancing act between panicking countries. Once you have full satellite coverage, abductions (and with them continent-wide panic attacks) stop, allowing you to delay everything indefinitely.

NalanoH. Wildmoon
Director of the Friends of Nalano PAC
Attorney at Lawl
"His lack of education is more than compensated for by his keenly developed moral bankruptcy." - Woody Allen

Kings Bounty: Crossworlds, 10 hours in on the Armored Princess campaign (with a lvl 14 paladin). Man, this game is addictive! But I agree with the WIT's; it's a lot less funny/bizarre compared to Kings Bounty: The Legend. But the constant drive (grind? :) to improve is very rewarding. The only thing I really don't like is the cuddly, cute pet dragon. I want my chest of rage back! (and in the game)

Apropos dragons, as a paladin you can get the voice of the dragon skill, which is the only way to boost dragon morale. If you then buff them, they become nigh unkillable engines of destruction: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...s/?id=43916440
I only ever used red dragons, though. My army consisted of guard droids, repair droids, alchemists and engineers for the most part, plus the set that boosts the stats of all of these units.

The only real time limit the game has is the balancing act between panicking countries. Once you have full satellite coverage, abductions (and with them continent-wide panic attacks) stop, allowing you to delay everything indefinitely.

True, concentrate in the beginning on satellites + appeasing panicking countries. When that was done I went for alien specimen research as much as possible and getting plasma weapons.

Played a round of Civ5 the last days. First round I played since release, this time with the Gods & Kings extension. Played on a random map and was the only civ on my island. So my Roman legions never came to use. Tried to achieve a cultural win, but Bismarck finished with a science victory in the end. Played on prince difficulty. The thing that bothers me most with Civ5 is, that the loading times after each round get very long in the end.

Also continued to play Stalker: SoC after a 3 month break. Left the garage and finally I start to enjoy this game. Atmosphere is awesome and the guns feel very good. Will definitely continue to play now...

If not for my 360 pad which arrived today. I played the "tutorial" of Dark Souls and beat the Asylum Demon after he punched me to death two times. The art direction in this game is fantastic! Also cant wait to play it again.

Just now I played half an hour of Dustforce. Normally I really enjoy platformers, but this one didnt grab me at all. Is it because all there is to do is getting the best time? Are there any secrets to find or something special to unlock? With Super Meat Boy I had great fun getting bandages and unlock special characters. With this one I just dont feel really motivated to play.

Finished up Assassin's Creed 2 last night. I was very impressed with this game. I have Bro and Rev as well but I think I'm going to hold off on those for a while so I don't get burnt out.

Barring that, I started a little of Titan Quest and will probably focus my time on that for a while. Seems like a solid entry for this type of game. I'm definitely going to have to get Diablo 2 at some point (never played it).

For more arcadey action, I'm also playing Nights into Dreams for the first time since I owned the Saturn original. Huge nostalgia rush but of course I suck at it, can't get any better than C's and D's.

You're clearly playing at a level so far above where I am as to barely be playing the same game. 18/20 civilians saved? Never seen a Chrysalid attack animation? I take it you're a veteran of the original game.

Below are my thoughts about how to succeed at XCOM EU (never played the original) if interested. In my experience practice getting to know the angles and mechanics and then a slavish devotion to the game's logic is all you need to beat Classic Ironman. It's not hard to even and tip the odds if you play very conservatively. Take the randomness out the game and it becomes pretty easy.

It took a lot of saving and reloading in a non Ironman campaign to start out but after a good 12 hours or so I finally worked out how to control the battlefield on Classic Ironman without too much difficulty. You just have to be excessively cautious and incredibly patient, pull aliens one bunch a time. If you think in terms of survival horror-caution, make every shot count, safety first, stick together-rather than strategy it becomes much easier. Advance slowly, have someone scout ahead, fall back if youíre exposed until you can advance safely, repeat until you find some aliens, kill them, repeat until you find some more.

I find itís hardest starting out because the AI buffs ignore cover to an extent, so irrespective of how well you use cover you can still die as easily as if you were out in the open when you are low ranked. Once you get the improved armour and level up a few troops though you just need to pull one group at a time and so long as you use cover properly you should have the resources and ability to tackle anything up to five or six bad guys, because your tech should have advanced to the point where you can survive better, for several rounds of shoot outs, and do more damage.

An assault troop is best for scouting because of their movement traits and ability to shake off an initial shot, I forgot what itís called. Then once you have mid way troops with the ability to heal several rounds, protect with smoke, fire twice if standing still, shoot anywhere within someone elseís line of sight and so on you should easily be able to duke it out with aliens at a ratio of 1.25 to one or so if you are in a defended position. You can start to flank once numbers dwindle, or if a route to doing so is clearly sheltered. If you do so before you risk casualties. After the fight fall back into formation and move on like the tortoise you are. Snapping Turtle may be more appropriate.

If you sweep out, as I wanted to when starting as it ďfeelsĒ more epic and right, but you get overwhelmed, and easily play to the AIís biggest strength. If you restrict how many you need to fight though you equal the odds and so long as your tech is at least equal to that of the baddies youíre up against you should be able to outthink the AI as in most other games. Itís then just a case of knowing what angles are good for firing and cover, something which only comes with practice and what I spent most of initial, saveable play through doing.

It all depends on how much you want to ďbeatĒ the game as to whether you want to adopt this though. Itís effective but intensive and also kind of saps the game of drama. Itís cold, systems based logic rather than themed Ameritrash fun, which is how I tend to play games/board games like this. I was satisfied at first when I learned to consistently best the odds but when I realised it had become a catch all approach It felt flat as the excitement went, the peril was gone, and it became a methodical grind. Although one or two of the ultimate rank of bad guys are good fun to face because they have some ability to mess up a procedural approach anyway, itís usually a Parthian shot rather than a mission threatening risk.

So there you go. Pretty much a fail proof approach, but it comes at the expense of my not really being too bothered about playing it any time soon again as a result. If you get a kick out of winning though (i'm really not very competitive at all) it's probably worth doing. I would like to try a different ďapproachĒ which is what I usually do if I find a gamey approach is ruining things, but I canít see how any other way of playing would work without everyone dying.

Well, the point of this is that you finally ARE The Cyborg Ninja. ANd people have been wanting that since MGS1.

And from the limited demo, it definitely FEELS like kojima's world. People are randomly spouting detailed facts about how PMCs have evolved (especially in the wake of MGS4), you have over the top characters who all exist to consider philisophical crap ("What does an AI know about freedom?". Sidenote, I bet this isn't Raiden and is actually an AI modeled on Raiden).

Basically, it is Kojima's story and characters with Platinum's style. And I actually really like the approach from what little I have played. Snake rarely ever felt like "a badass" as it were. He instead felt like a nice stale beer spec op as it were. He had his moments of awesome, but it was very much about being outnumbered and knowing you don't stand a chance in a straight fight.
Rising Raiden is more about having to hold yourself back from trying to engage EVERYONE because you can't win (but you'll take a bunch of them down with you :p). Which actually seems to fit the character right now as Raiden seems hellbent on revenge and bloodthirsty as crap.

It's good it feels like Kojima's world still. I heard he wanted to make the game about Gray Fox but decided to just go with MGS5 and let this studio use Raiden for the game. I think snake was Badass because he was vulnerable and it was a challenge to survive. MGS1 and 3 will always be my favorites. I still need to finish 4, I don't have a ps3 so I play it at a friends house sometimes and have been slowly progressing. Like I said, I'm sure I'd enjoy playing the game but the gameplay alone isn't something that really grips me. I'd rather tactical stealth over a action/slash em up any day. And Raiden is one of my least favorite characters in the series so that doesn't really help.

It's good it feels like Kojima's world still. I heard he wanted to make the game about Gray Fox but decided to just go with MGS5 and let this studio use Raiden for the game. I think snake was Badass because he was vulnerable and it was a challenge to survive. MGS1 and 3 will always be my favorites. I still need to finish 4, I don't have a ps3 so I play it at a friends house sometimes and have been slowly progressing. Like I said, I'm sure I'd enjoy playing the game but the gameplay alone isn't something that really grips me. I'd rather tactical stealth over a action/slash em up any day. And Raiden is one of my least favorite characters in the series so that doesn't really help.

MGS4 went a long way toward making Raiden likeable, if only because he stopped being Snake.

2 was all about "What if the everyman became Solid Snake". 4 was Raiden finding his own path, that he continues along in Rising.

And I actually wish they had stuck with the middle concept, where this is a prequel to 4 and it is all about Raiden rescuing Sunny and various plot-essential corpses from 4.

Steam: Gundato
PSN: Gundato
If you want me on either service, I suggest PMing me here first to let me know who you are.